Golf club



` July 31, 1923- 1,463,533

C. A. KURZ, JR

GOLF GLUB` Filed July 2, 1919 Patented July 31, 1923..

UNITED.' STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN A. KURZ, JB., 0F DAYTON, OHIO.

GOLF CLUB.

Application med :my a,

new and useful 1in rovements in ,Groliv Clubs, of which the ollowing isa specifi cation. V

My invention relates to' golf clubs and more particularlyto. the mode ofreinforc ing the striking face of .the club by the ad dition of aninsert of a body of phenolic condensation product.

The object of the invention is to increase the eficiency'of the club byimproving its driving power and the accuracy of the stroke by embodyingin the head of the club a body of material which will impart to the ballthe full force and effect of the blow without absorbin any material partof the force or shock, t ereby giving to the club more life A furtherobject of the invention is to increase the wearing `qualities anddurability of the club by roviding a striking face which will be unliely to be injured by the repeated 'blows and which will withstand theusual' hard usage to which golf clubs are subjected.

A further object of the invention is to provide an insert which willunite with the wood of the head to form a perfect union therewith andwhich will not be affected by chamges of temperature nor subject to`expansion or contraction under variations of either temperature ormoisture and which will maintain its seat in the club head without theusual tendency ofsuch inserts to become loose.

With the above primary and otherincidental objects in view as will morefully appear in the specification, the invention consists of thefeatures of construction, the parts and combinations thereof, and themode of operation or their equivalents aswill hereinafter be describedand set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l is a perspective view ofithe` head ofa golf club embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a transversesectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a golf club headin which the present invention is embodied in a modified form. Fig. 4 isa transverse sectional view of the head shown in Fig. 3.

1918.` Serial No. 808,095.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a furi ther modification.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughoutthe several views.

It has been customary in the past to reinforce the striking face of goldclubs, usu ally by means of an inlay of fiber lignumvit wood or otherclose grained material which is not easily broken. These inlays 'werefrequently secured by means of dowel lins passing through the inlay andinto the ody of the head however, such inlays were "not alwayssuccessfully and accurately set to the head, or became loosened in play,or by ex ansion and contraction of the material. urthermore thematerials heretofore used have not possessed the requisite degree ofresistance to the shock or impact of the stroke and have not aiorded thedesired driving power nor the degree of solidity necessary to accuracyon long drives. These diiiculties have been overcome and the desirablequalities attained by the present construction wherein a body 1 ofphenolic condensation product commonly known in the trade under thetrade name of bakelite, condensite, redmanol or like material, isembedded in the striking face of the golf head 2 by being moulded insitu therein. The bodyl of phenolic condensation product 1 maybe of anydesired shape or size, according to the purpose of the club and thepeculiarities or desires of the player. In Figs. 1 and 2 the body ofphenolic condensation product has been shown of truncated conical -formembedded in the head 2 with the smaller extremity exposed flush with thestriking face 3 of the club. ln litting the club with such insert bodythe face of the club is provided with an under-cut hole, or one having areduced orifice and widened or expanded within the body of the club headto ail'ord anchorage for the insert. The phenolic condensation productmay be mixed with a filler of any desired character, either fibrous incharacter or of powdered form, or may be employed without such filler ifso desired. It is common practice in the use of phenolic condensationproduct to employ a filler of wood, asbestos, marble dust and variousother materials whereby the ultimate character of the product is varied.There is now in use a phenolic con densation composition forthe-manufacture of billiard balls which will be found quite suitable forthe present purposes although other compositions of phenoliccondensation materials may be employed.

In embodyin the insert, the cavity in the head 2 is fille with the rawmaterial, the head being placed in a suitable mould or retrainer. andthe raw material to form the insert is subjected to heat and pressure asis usual in the moulding of these materials. The material, being liuxedby the application of heat and subjected to pressure while in a Huxedcondition, is caused to penetrate into the fibers and pores of the head2. and so in etect kntsY the insert- 1 and the head 2 into a singleintegral body. The insert 1 moulded in situ within the cavity formed vinthe head 2 under pressure thus is made to conform accurately to theshape of Ythe recess. The phenolic material possessing a negligiblefactor of expansion and contraction will not be loosened readily fromits seat within the head and is anchored not only by the shape of thecavity or recess, but also by the penetration of the phenolic materialinto the pores and fiber of the Wo d.

It has long been the custom to provide golf club heads with weights bypouring molten metal, such as lead or Babbitt metal into a recess in thehead. However in such cases there is not the union of the insert withthe head as in the presentcase, and furthermore the insert cannot fitwith the same accnracy as in thepresent instance, since the hot metalnot only causes the wood to shrink, but upon cooling the metal bod Yitself shrinks away from the wood. In t e present instance, the mouldingin situ of the phenolic condensation product under pressure causes thefluxed product to follow the wood in its shrinkage caused by theapplication of heat. The material of the insert being compressed withinthe recess will not shrink away from the wood nor change its size uponcooling. as is the case with metal. Another material difference betweenthe result of the present process and that. of rfi/uridine' in situ ofmetal weights. is that the insert firmly unites or knits with the.surrounding surface.

li. Fig. Il there has been shown Aa modia finition of the simple insertsh-Wn in Fig. i. in which the body of the insert of either cylindricalor conical form is provided with a trapezoidal head hi. The hea i 4 islocated in a recess or nioriise in the ieee l of the olf club head andformed in situ by moulding this head Within the recess or niortiseintegral with the main body of the insert. extending rearwardly into thebody of the head. This form of'insert affords a more extended strikingsurface` than that shown in Fig. 1. The mortise or recess to receive thetrapezoidal head may be of dove-tailed or under-cut form or may beprovided with straight sides as is found most convenient or desirable.The phenolic condensation product forming the head of the insert willunite with the surrounding Wood surface by entering the pores and intothe grain of the wood as before described and any dove-tailed orunder-cut shape of the mortise merely adds to the security of the headof the insert. Likewise, in lieu of making the rearward extendingportion of the insert tapered or of conical form as is shown in Fig. 2,this portion of the insert may be cylindrical as further shown in Fig..4.

In lieu of a single embedded body as shown in Fig. 4, the face plate orhead of the insert may be provided with a plurality of rearward orinward rejecting studs or spuds` as shown at 5 in il. 5. In theconstruction shown in Fig. 5. t e head 2 of the Jolf club is preparedfor the insert by orming in the face thereof the mortise or recess in`accordance with the shape and extent of the striking face desired, and`then providing in the bottom of said recess or mortise, a series ofholes which may enter the golf club head in parallel relation one withthe other, or in inclined or di onal relation, whereby the' will afforda ditional anchorage for such inserts. Any number of these holes may beprovided and the series of holes and the mortise or recess in the faceof the club head with which these holes communicate are subsequentlyutilized as the mould for the insert. lVhile the head 4 of the inserthas been shown of trapezoidal form, it is obvious that it may be of anydesired shape or proportion. oreover, instead of a single insert ofphenolic condensation materal, the striking face may be provided with aseries of inserts arranged in various designs.

By the term phenolic condensation product as herein used and ashereinafter set forth in the claims is meant those synthetic compoundsor materials resulting from the reaction of not only phenols. but alsotheir homologues, derivatives or equivalents, and formaldeh de or itspolymers. derivatives or equiva ents, and other methylene containingsubstances to which may. or may not have been added suitable fillingmaterial.

From the above description it will be a parent that there is thusprovided a evice of the character described, possessing the particularfeatures of adyantagze before enumerated as desirable but whichobviously is susceptible of modification in its forni. proportion.detail construction or arrangement of parts. without departing from theprinciple involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

modifications within the scope of the'appended claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim: 1 A

1. A wooden lf club head and an insert of phenoh) condensation materialmolded in situ in the striking face of the club head.

` 2. In a construction of the character described, a wooden golf clubhead having a recess therein and an insert molded in situ in said recessunder pressure while in a substantially plastic condition by whichtheinsert is caused to be knitted fast to the voodei body by being forcedinto the pores t l'e 3. The combination with a golf club' head of wood,having therein e recess, of an insert of plastic material molded in situin said recess and united with the material of the golf club bybeingeaused to penetrate the pores thereof.` l

4i The combination with a golf club hav ing a porous head of la bod ofphenolic condensation materialinse therein, said insert being anchoredby having portions Vmolded in situ in said recess.

6. A golf club head and an insert of temporarily plastic materialpossessing a minimum factor of ex ansion and contraction molded and haened in situ in the striking face of the golf club head.

7. A golf club head, characterized by an insert of phenolic condensationmaterial embedded in the striking face thereof.

8. A golf club characterized b an insert embedded in the strikin .face tereof consisting of phenolic conl ensation material intermxed with afiller material by which the resiliency material is modified.

9. The herein described process of pro vidin inserts in wooden golf clubheads and t e like, consistin in forming a re cess in a porous body, liling the recess with a temporarily plastic material, subjecting the bodyof material to pressure to cause it to netrate the ores of the porousbody, an permittin t e material to solidify xn its comp form.

.In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of JuneA. 1919.

CHRISTIAN A. KURZ, Ja.

Witnesses:

Hanny F. Noun', F. L. Warm of the phenolic condensation

